Iowa 4-H Alumni & Friends

In 2014, the Iowa 4-H Foundation will host their 5 th annual Gala; and it will be bigger and better than ever! The Central Iowa Gala will be held on February 22, 2014 at The Meadows in Altoona, IA. New for 2014 will be an Eastern Iowa Gala which will be held on March 1, 2014 in the Iowa City area- location TBD. In 2013, the annual Gala Fundraiser raised a net total of over $102,000 to support Iowa 4-H’ers. This successful event would not be possible without help from volunteers and supporters like you and it is not too early to get involved. We are currently looking for volunteers for both Gala event committees. Committees include: Auction – develop plan, solicit auction items and identify auction process & display. Each event will include a live, silent, purse, tool belt and 4-H’er items auction. Logistics – food, décor, table settings, entertainment, program messaging, etc. Promotion – design, messaging & implementation from start to finish; include...

The Iowa 4-H Foundation's Call-A-Thon is unique in it's own way, differing from other calling fundraisers. This Call-A-Thon is not based out of a call center, or from an outside state. It takes place in our offices here on the Iowa State University Campus. Our callers are Iowa 4-H'ers who have benefited directly from donors and sponsors during their 4-H membership. The Iowa State University Collegiate 4-H Club   members take to the phones to raise money for the Iowa 4-H Foundation through the annual Call-A-Thon. Historically, ISU Collegiate 4-H members call for a week during the fall semester. This year, they will be calling two nights per week for the remainder of the fall semester. Colin Ryan, member of The Iowa State University Collegiate 4-H Club, enjoys hearing 4-H stories and experiences from donors. The purpose of the annual Call-A-Thon is to raise funds for the Iowa 4-H Foundation's scholarships and recognition programs such as National 4-H Conference ...

On Sunday, September 1, 2013, the Iowa 4-H Foundation's Executive Director, Kris Fish Kuhlmann, made a trip to the University of Iowa for the collegiate 4-H Hoe-down Throwdown.   This year marked the event's second year of promoting agriculture on the U of I campus. This free event invited students to compete in teams of 4 in an obstacle course and various activities, including but not limited to, a corn dig, corn-husk throw, hay-bale course, water balloon tossing, sack races, milking, rubber chicken throwing, greased pumpkin carrying and identifying things from Iowa. There were also community service projects including making tie blankets for the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. Not to mention, there was also a mechanical bull that was open for rides all afternoon! Bethany Welsh, the founder of the U of I Collegiate 4-H, believes it will bring the spirit of county fairs and agriculture to the university. Prizes were awarded to teams with the best time. C...

Along with summer, our three “Going for the Green” Golf Tournaments for 2013 has come to an exciting end. Last week, we visited  Blue Top Ridge at Riverside to host our Eastern Iowa Golf Tournament. 70 golfers took the course on the hot summer day to support Iowa 4-H’ers. Our other two golf tournaments this summer were the Central Iowa Golf Tournament at  Hyperion Field Club in Johnston, IA and the Northwest Golf Tournament at  Emerald Hills Golf Club in Arnolds Park, IA. These golf tournaments all included a fun, friendly golf competition, putting contest, longest drive, hole in one, closest to the pin, longest putt, and live auctions. Aaron Thomas was featured as our celebrity golfer at the Central Iowa Golf Tournament. There was a “beat the pro” contest where the golfers were challenged to beat Thomas with the longest drive. Iowa Soybean Association was a proud presenting sponsor of all three golf tournaments. At each tournament, ISA goodies including soybe...

The Iowa 4-H Foundation will host their third and final golf outing of the summer at Blue Top Ridge in Riverside, IA. This golf outing will include a live auction during the evening social and will feature six items valued at over $9,000! Can’t attend our live auction on Friday? You can be a proxy bidder! We will place your bid on your behalf during the live auction. If you would like to place a bid on any of the following item(s), please contact Carter Collins at 515-294-1607. We will take your highest bid from Wednesday, August 21 st at 9:00 AM to Thursday, August 22 nd at 4:00 PM. The live auction will take place on Friday, August 23 rd 7:00 PM. Auction Items: 1.        Home/Office Décor donated by P&K Midwest. This package includes two framed and matted agricultural prints, each valued at $150. 2.        Iowa State Recycle Bin donated by Cummins Central Power. This package includes a one-of-a-kind...

"Nothing Compares" to a friendly competition... especially at the 2013 Iowa State Fair! Iowa 4-H supporters from across the state and the nation stopped by the Bruce L. Rastetter 4-H Exhibits Building to donate their spare change to support the Iowa 4-H Foundation's campaign to raise money for the County Endowments across the state. About a month ago, the Coin Wars Competition was introduced as a new fundraising competition to raise money in support of Iowa 4-H'ers. The five day campaign from August 8 through August 12 challenged the five 4-H areas in Iowa to compete for bragging rights and raise money for the County Endowments. More details about the competition can be found in a past blog post, Coin Wars. During the competition, we gave away 4-H Bears (a crowd favorite) and Iowa 4-H Foundation 60th Anniversary Cookbooks. Now that the competition is over, we know that you all are anxious to see who the winning area is, right? Well don't worry, we will tell y...

Over the last week we, the Iowa 4-H Foundation staff, have been busy at the Iowa State Fair. We had the opportunity to host our first ever coin wars competition, and we are happy to announce that it was a huge success! We can’t wait to announce the winner on Sunday, August 18 during our Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame event at the Iowa State Fair. If you will not be at the fair or at the event, don’t worry, we will also announce the winner on our Facebook page, Twitter, website and blog on Monday the 19. We can’t wait to bring this competition back to next year’s state fair as we are currently working on ways to improve this exciting new fundraising event.  Iowa State Fair 4-H Facts from Iowa State University Extension & Outreach Our Executive Director, Kris Fish Kuhlmann, has also been staying busy at the fair. She has been attending various 4-H events and shows. She even had the opportunity to meet our Facebook “Like” contest winner’s family during the fair. Kevin Hauser, winner...